The movie “Waiting for Superman” has struck a bull’s-eye on hearts across America with its story of struggling students who desperately need to get into a special charter school, which will make the difference in their education and their lives. Even President Barack Obama has called the film “heartbreaking” and “powerful.” As a former adult nonreader and now a national literacy advocate, I am thrilled by the attention the movie is getting and I’m grateful to director Davis Guggenheim for his passion and commitment to the subject.

At the same time, I find it just a bit disheartening that America is still in the process of discovering its literacy problem. It is no secret that the number of non-readers and below-average readers in this country has reached epidemic proportions and continues to increase. We’ve known it for years. The 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy found that 43 percent of the total population aged 16 or older – some 93 million people – rated at the below-basic or basic level in their reading skills. Illiteracy is a problem that does not discriminate, cutting across societal, racial and ethnic backgrounds. It is not a poverty issue, per se, but being unable to read will condemn a person to a lifetime of substandard economic performance.

What we need now is the will to change things at the grass-roots level where education is delivered, with support on a policy level as well. Having the will to make a difference can help the struggling students out there, whether they are children such as those featured in “Waiting for Superman” or adults who are trying to function in society without adequate reading skills. I know because for the first 48 years of my life I was a member of what I call the “subculture of illiteracy.” No matter that I was a college graduate, a former schoolteacher and a successful real estate entrepreneur, I could only read at a second-grade level. That statement always elicits the question, how did I manage? The short answer is the subculture of illiteracy is full of resourceful people with incredible street smarts. What we want, more than anything, is to acquire what everyone else has: the ability to read. Without that basic skill, which is our right to have, we will never have equal opportunity to succeed in school or the workplace.

Debate continues over how this can happen. Is it up to the parents, the teachers, the schools, the government, the colleges of education, the students? My answer is yes. At every single level, we need to have the will to do what we know works. This needs to begin at the grass-roots community level. We cannot wait for “the system” to rescue us. The science and methodology are there to teach virtually every student, including those with extreme dyslexia and auditory discrimination problems like mine, how to read. In schools across the country – private, public, and charter – it is being done. I’ve visited schools where resources are spent on intensive phonics instruction for struggling young students in a small group setting, and communities where people come together to teach adult learners. There are numerous examples of how computer technology is being deployed – and should be expanded – for literacy instruction and to promote literacy skills.

These are the real superheroes – the parents, teachers, administrators, policymakers, advocates and students who are in the trenches in the fight against illiteracy. They know it can be done, and they are prepared to do what it takes one student at a time.

So, yes, America, there is a problem out there called illiteracy, and it is growing. Now that you’ve awoken up to the issue, are you ready to put your will into action? For the sake of my brethren, the millions of Americans who lack the literacy skills they need to survive and compete in society, I certainly hope so.

Corcoran, a resident of Oceanside, is the author of “The Teacher Who Couldn’t Read,” a memoir of his life and career as a nonreader who did not master the written word until the age of 48. He is the founder and CEO of the John Corcoran Foundation and has served on the board of the San Diego Council on Literacy and the executive board of the Literacy Network of Greater Los Angeles. He was appointed to the board of the National Institute for Literacy by President George H.W. Bush and continued under President Bill Clinton.

Corcoran, a resident of Oceanside, is the author of “The Teacher Who Couldn’t Read,” a memoir of his life and career as a nonreader who did not master the written word until the age of 48. He is the founder and CEO of the John Corcoran Foundation and has served on the board of the San Diego Council